Gluten Free/Celiac Diet

Gluten-free is more than just a claim on a box. For a lot of people, it’s the only way to eat.

Nature’s Path and the Gluten-Free Diet:

We want to thank our consumers for contacting us about their gluten-free dietary needs. We understand the challenge of finding great tasting, healthy, gluten-free foods and it is our goal to continue to provide gluten-free, organic products that meet your and our standards for food quality and taste.

Nature’s Path wants to assure you that we are dedicated to producing exceptional products and hold the health of our customers along with quality and food safety as our top priorities. That is why we inspect our manufacturing facilities, continue to carry out our own internal testing as well as sending out product to be independently tested to ensure that they are gluten-free. We hold ourselves to extremely high standards of food production and remain absolutely committed to providing a consistently safe product to our customers.

Manufacturing Process:

We at Nature’s Path are very proud of our many excellent gluten-free products. In order to ensure that our products are safe for those with celiac disease we adhere to the following:

• We manufacture our gluten-free cereals together isolating them from any products that contain gluten.
• All processing equipment is thoroughly cleaned before a run of gluten-free cereals.
• To further ensure that our lines are free of any gluten containing grains, a specified portion — at the beginning of the run — is not utilized in gluten-free cereals.
• Our equipment is inspected in order to maintain our cleaning standards.

Please consult with your health care provider to determine if our gluten-free foods meet your particular dietary needs.

Are Nature’s Path Oat Products Gluten-Free?

Nature’s Path oat products such as granola cereals, granola bars, hot oatmeal & other cereals containing oats are NOT gluten-free.

The oats currently used to make most commercial breakfast cereals including Nature’s Path oat cereals are not specially grown, and are not expected to be gluten-free as there is the possibility of cross contamination with a gluten-containing grain in the field or during the milling process. Therefore, at this time in North America most oats are not acceptable in a gluten-free diet. Nature’s Path does manufacture several gluten-free products, which are clearly labeled as such.

What is Celiac Disease?

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

"Celiac disease (CD) is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food. People who have CD cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats. When people with CD eat foods containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging the small intestine. Specifically, tiny, finger-like protrusions, called villi, on the lining of the small intestine are lost. Nutrients from food are absorbed into the bloodstream through these villi. Without villi, a person becomes malnourished — regardless of the amount of food eaten."

Prevalence of Celiac Disease:

The detection of Celiac Disease (CD) is underdeveloped in North America. The most recent data indicates that 1 in 133 people in the United States have celiac disease. Not all of these people have been diagnosed and many continue to suffer with gastrointestinal disorders or malabsorption which can lead to malnutrition. In some cases people suffer for 5, 10 or more years before they are diagnosed with the condition.

What is a Gluten-Free Diet?

A diet that avoids wheat, rye, barley and oats. There is some discussion regarding the inclusion of oats. It seems that the protein in oats does not damage the villi but the concern is the possibility of cross contamination of a gluten containing grain in the field or during the milling process. Therefore, at this time in North America oats are not acceptable in a gluten-free diet.

What Grains are Allowed?

At first the impression is that there is little left to eat. A common question is "what do I have for breakfast?". Luckily there are many gluten-free grains and seeds and they are becoming more common in manufactured foods. The gluten-free grains and seeds are: quinoa, rice, corn, amaranth, buckwheat, flaxseeds, and millet. There are many other ingredients used in gluten-free products such as potato, arrowroot, sago, sorghum, tapioca and teff.

Resources:

Many resources are available regarding the gluten-free diet.

Please contact:

1. American Celiac Society - 
PO Box 23455
 - New Orleans LA 70183-0455 -  
Tel: 504-737-3293
 - Fax: 504-737-3283 - 
EMail: AmerCeliacSoc@onebox.com - http://www.americanceliacsociety.org/
2. Celiac Sprue Association USA http://www.csaceliacs.org/
3. Canadian Celiac Association
5170 Dixie Road, Suite 204, Mississauga, ON L4W 1E3 
tel: 905-507-6208 toll free: 1-800-363-7296 www.celiac.ca
4. Celiac Disease Foundation
13251 Ventura Blvd, #1, Studio City, CA 91604-1838
 tel: 818-990-2354 
www.celiac.org 
E-mail: cdf@celiac.org
5. The Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/
6. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/